A study allowed sheep and goats to voluntarily feed on A. halimus and aimed to determine if the saltbush was palatable, and if so, did it provide enough nutrients to supplement the diet of these animals.

In this study they determined when goats and sheep are given as much A. halimus as they like, they do obtain enough nutrients to supplement their diet – unless the animal requirements are higher during pregnancy and milk production.

[6] This plant is often cultivated as forage because of its tolerance for severe conditions of drought, and it can grow easily in very alkaline and saline soils.

[10][11] The Greek comic poet Antiphanes seemingly calls it halimon and refers to foraging for it in dry torrent beds.

[12] The plant is mentioned again in the Middle Ages by Ishtori Haparchi in his 14th-century work Kaftor va-Ferach (Hebrew: כפתור ופרח), he notes that it was grows in the Jordan Valley region.